Everyone is special.
That’s the message many students have learned over the last decade in supportive classrooms and home environments. That’s why for many a commencement speech that recently went viral was such a shock (and for some a breath of fresh air).  In her article “Should We Stop Telling Our Kids That They’re Special?” Erika Christakis responded to the speaker who told the graduating class: “You’re not special, you are not exceptional.”
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Half of employees were either ready to leave their jobs or unhappy in their position, according to last year’s Mercer survey.1
As we discuss how to get more students graduating from high school and college and into a career, it’s important individuals, schools, and businesses align their definitions of success so that an individual’s strengths and abilities are maximized. In school, success is largely measured by class standing and grades. In your career, success can be measured by status or money. But what about fulfillment? Purpose? Meaning? Contribution?
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It’s summer and many new graduates are getting ready to make their first career move. Some grads are relocating to follow a dream or take an offered position. Others are searching locally or digitally for a career that will keep them close to home, while others are still brainstorming before making any decisions. Transitioning from school to life overnight can be stressful. All of a sudden new grads are faced with a new lifestyle full of adult freedoms, as well as adult pressures to hurry up and find a job. In addition to the new stresses of a transition, college grads may also face push-back from friends, family, bosses, and coworkers about how their choosing to approach the rest of their lives.
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Internships were originally intended for students in the medical field. Doctors knew medical students needed hands-on experience working with patients before they were qualified to work on their own patients. Today, internships have spread beyond the medical field and become an important part of many jobseekers’ resumes in education, technology, writing, marketing, and more.
We all have to start somewhere; and many of us have to start at the beginning.
Some of the world’s most famous tech billionaires started at the bottom of their entrepreneurial ladder, as a dishwasher (founder of Dell), technician (founder of Oracle), and a salesman (CEO of Microsoft).1Â In the early 1980s, Martin Davis reinvented the company Gulf & Western “from ragtag agglutination of about 100 businesses to a thriving corporation.”2Â Davis started in the mailroom and worked his way up the company to CEO.
College students notoriously have overwhelming schedules. Many balance going to school full time, having part-or full-time employment, living on their own, and maintaining relationships. In the whirlwind of the college lifestyle, students can lose sight of how college should support and propel their career, and instead become only focused on grades and graduation day.
The Class of 2012 has reason to celebrate. They’re among the 56% of college students who stuck it out and finished a college degree in under 6 years,1Â they found their calling, and they are prepared to make an impact on the world. However, with rising student debt, a volatile job market, and an overall uncertain economic future, many students may also be leaving with anxiety about entering the workforce.
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Many college students are lining up internships for the summer months or the coming semester. Some college graduates are also getting internships to further their professional experience after college and possibly get their foot in the door in careers and fields they have recently narrowed to match their interests and abilities.
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It’s a harsh reality: average workers will have a much harder time in today’s economic climate. The competition is heating up and those who are exceptional will have traction, gratification and fulfillment in the workforce.
Average workers don’t put in the extra that sets them apart from other members of the team, whereas exceptional workers draw energy from harnessing  their unique abilities. It may sound like becoming an exceptional worker will be much more depleting than putting in average effort, but, in fact, it’s the opposite. People who feel “very successful” and “completely successful” at work are twice as likely to say they are happy than those who only feel “somewhat successful,” with their level of income making no difference in their levels of happiness, according to Arthur Brooks in the article “America and the Value of ‘Earned Success.'”1 Exceptional people are driven to become exceptional for its intrinsic value (in happiness and fulfillment), not extrinsic value (in dollars and status).
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The world of work is ever- changing. However, new graduates will experience a heightened level of change over the span of their careers, as technology becomes more integrated and new software, tools, and gadgets make their work more efficient and far reaching.  Add to that the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of today’s young people who will be launching many of the new businesses which will fuel our economic growth over the next several decades in areas that don’t yet exist, and it could be hard to predict what the workforce will look like in 20, or even 10, years.
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